Youthful Visionaries

At Sammamish Rotary’s Sept. 17 After Hours program, local students showed that meaningful service does not have to wait until adulthood.

During a program titled “Youthful Visionaries,” our club heard three presentations about projects addressing open-water safety, inclusion for people with disabilities, and bike and e-bike safety. Each began with a problem the students had seen in their own community—and a decision to do something about it.

Making Open Water Safer

Mudra Machewad, founder of the LakeSafe Initiative, described how a frightening boating incident involving people close to her, and later drownings at Lake Sammamish, motivated her to learn more about open-water safety.

That research grew into a youth-led initiative working with public agencies, nonprofits, schools, and community partners. LakeSafe’s efforts include multilingual and symbol-based safety signs, life-jacket loaner stations, emergency rescue equipment, and public education.

In September, LakeSafe placed 50 life jackets at three locations in Lake Sammamish State Park. The initiative has now worked with more than 20 partner organizations and reached thousands of community members.

Sammamish Rotary was proud to help sponsor the LakeSafe Confluence earlier this year, bringing organizations and community leaders together around drowning prevention.

Building Understanding Through Stories and Art

Florence Qiang and Yingchen shared how Lens of Youth advocates for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities through photography, art, and storytelling.

Its Misunderstood Moments program pairs real experiences from individuals and families with original artwork. By sharing those stories through libraries, schools, businesses, and community events, the program encourages people to pause before judging and choose understanding and inclusion.

Lens of Youth also offers inclusive arts activities and photography services that help individuals and families feel seen, valued, and connected. The presenters invited Rotary and other community partners to help expand the collection of local stories and bring them to a wider audience.

Their message was simple but powerful: community attitudes may not change all at once, but they can change one story and one person at a time.

Creating Clearer Rules for Safer Rides

Divisha Arora, founder of Know Your Ride, focused on a challenge many Sammamish families are navigating: understanding the rules and safety considerations surrounding bikes, e-bikes, and e-motos.

Information about bike classifications, age restrictions, speeds, and permitted routes can be scattered across government, school, and law-enforcement websites. Know Your Ride brings that information together in clear guides for students, parents, schools, and communities.

Divisha has also developed memorable safety tools and the SAFE 10 program to help young riders build good habits before they begin riding. Her goal is not to discourage e-bike use, but to give young people the information they need to enjoy the independence of riding while protecting themselves and others.

Service Has No Age Requirement

Although the three initiatives address very different needs, they share a common foundation: each student recognized a community problem, listened to the people affected, and turned that understanding into action.

Their work reflects the heart of Rotary service: bringing people together, building partnerships, and creating practical solutions that improve our community.

We are grateful to Mudra, Florence, Yingchen, and Divisha for sharing their work with us. They offered more than three impressive presentations; they gave us a glimpse of the thoughtful, service-minded leadership already growing in our community.